Did climate change contribute to Sandy? Yes

As Hurricane Sandy battered the East Coast last week, meteorologists and climate scientists were repeatedly asked to explain what role climate change played in amplifying the storm.

We did our best to answer: We know that a warming climate puts more energy into storms, including hurricanes, loading them with more rainfall and the stronger winds pushing more of a storm surge. That makes flooding more likely. We also know that storm surge now rides higher on sea levels that have risen over the last century due to global warming, amplifying losses where the surge strikes. On the stretch of the Atlantic Coast that spans from Norfolk to Boston, sea levels have been rising four times faster than the global average.

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Overall, we know that climate change has stacked the deck so that this kind of event happens more frequently. That answer, however, prompts a deeper, more unsettling question that many want to know: is climate change worsening some recent extreme weather events like super storm Sandy?

The short answer is yes. Climate scientists broadly agree that the extreme weather we’ve seen over the past few years is exactly what we’d expect to see in a changing climate. And it’s not just Sandy; we’re on track to have the hottest year in more than a century of record-keeping in the continental United States, the country has suffered one of the most crippling droughts in history, as well as one of the worst wildfire years in history. Last year, when Hurricane Irene hit the United States, meteorologists called it “unprecedented,” yet Sandy has already outpaced the damage from Irene.

We’ll probably never know the exact point when the weather stopped being entirely natural. But we should consider Sandy—and other recent extreme weather events – an early taste of a climate-changed world, and a grim preview of the even worse to come, particularly if we continue to pump more carbon pollution from smokestacks and tailpipes up into the atmosphere.

Last weekend, millions of Americans prepared for the storm by turning to meteorologists to tell them where the storm would hit. The meteorologists relied on detailed computer models to form an accurate prediction of where it would hit and how strong it would be.

Well this should send the deniers into a rage. You can't win them over with facts, stats and predictions fulfilled. Their entire understanding of climate comes from conservative chain emails quoting studies funded by oil companies that tout theories about sun spots and planetary cycles. It's a comfort to them to remain ignorant and oblivious because they don't have the character or will to change the momentum of destruction that is to come.

The most hilarious thing was yesterday when they posted the story by that businessman Goreham who basically said "Carbon dioxide is just a tiny little molecule. How can it possibly do anything harmful to the planet?" That was literally his denial of climate change. Carbon dioxide is just a trace gas and it isn't a big deal.

It was one of the dumbest thing I've ever seen in print. I'm glad Politco took it down. It made them look bad to allow such an ignorant peice of nonsense to be posted on their website.

The average global temperature over the last 570,000,000 years is (given that scale) a virtual straight line 72F, barring the 4 major global freezes. Curiously, it's currently 56F, as we're in the midst of coming out of a global freeze. Due to the closing of the Panama Isthmus, separating the Atlantic from the Pacific, the altered ocean currents triggered a series of ice ages. We've just finished number 23, and hopefully that's it.

Glaciers, by definition, are formed during an ice age. Similary, by definition, they are supposed to melt after an ice age. Ocean levels have risen approximately 300 feet over the last 18,000 years, and will continue to do so until the previous equilibrium of ocean levels and temperature are reached. Ancient Greek & Roman ports are 50-80 feet underwater. Just because man continues to build on an ever changing shoreline does not equate to me giving up my V-8.

Current CO2 levels of approximately 385ppmv are at historic lows over the last 570,000,000 years. True that CO2 levels were as low as 150 - 180ppmv during the recent global freeze, but CO2 levels typically drop during such climates. What's important to know what's "normal" is to look at the time frame prior to the global freeze. During the 145,000,000 year period prior to this recent 3 million year freeze, CO2 levels averaged between 900 - 3,300 ppmv, peaking as high as 4,000 ppmv. Famed Hockey Stick Graph guy Mr. Mann said 560ppmv is a drop dead number!? So the most prolific explosion of life in the planet's history CO2 was 900-3,300, but 560ppmv kills us?

Even evolution proves that plant life is used to much higher CO2 levels. Current plants reach maximum photosynthetic performance when exposed to CO2 in the 1,000 - 1,500 ppmv range. As such genetic preferences adapt over time, the fact that they still prefer a much higher value demonstrates that they previous desired an even much higher amount and have adapted downward. Furthermore, plants that survived were those more adaptable to the current starvation diet levels of CO2.

Insofar as those professing scientific knowledge of our impending doom, please note that a recent NASA mission concluded that current climate models "vastly overestimate the effect of CO2 on warming," and "vastly underestimate Earth's daily heat loss." I find it laughable that anyone can say any science is settled when they're proven to be "vastly" wrong.

Visually, for your own benefit, use the following link and view the graph of Earth's historical climate temperature and tell me a blind man can't complete the graph whether man is on Earth tomorrow or not.

During the 145,000,000 year period prior to this recent 3 million year freeze, CO2 levels averaged between 900 - 3,300 ppmv, peaking as high as 4,000 ppmv. Famed Hockey Stick Graph guy Mr. Mann said 560ppmv is a drop dead number!? So the most prolific explosion of life in the planet's history CO2 was 900-3,300, but 560ppmv kills us?

Wow Tom, so you're perfectly good with recreating an atmospheric age that sustained only plants, invertebrates and the beginnings of animals with mammalian characteristics. Sounds fabulous. I guess that's great news for earth that she can just cycle out humans when she's good and tired of them.

Another article written by the Doctors of Stupidity. Guess we need to spend all money on reducing greenhouse gases. If we are successful, there will be no plants on earth and we can all starve together. Best to send the good Doctors to a re-education camp like MAO did in China. How do stupid people get degrees?

I suggest that we reduce CO2 emissions by preventing all "True Believers" in Global warming from using any fossil fuels to either heat their homes or for their cars. They can freeze and walk is they want to save the planet and if they really believe this tripe. The earth goes through warming and cooling cycles and I prefer warming. I live in Ohio and the glaciers actually reached just north of where I currently live so given that as an alternative I would prefer it being a little warmer than colder.

I want to point out that after Katrina buffoons like Al Gore and the rest of the climate alarmists predicted that Katrina was just the start of a regular and worsening pounding of the Gulf by hurricanes. It has been more than 7 years and I am still waiting for another hurricane in the gulf.

All the Climate change loons come out of the wood work whenever their is a weather event. There is blizzard and that is the result of Global warming, there is a drought and that is the result of global warming, there is a flood and that is a result of global warming and of course a hurricane is the result of Global warming. These are weather events man has experienced since the beginning of time, but the people who stand to benefit from scaring people into paying some moronic carbon tax cannot help themselves when something like Sandy happens.

All the chicken little's see the sky falling and it is up to the rest of us to prevent them from causing an economic catastrophe by not allowing them to extrapolate a universe from an event.

Great Hurricane of 1780 Hurricane San Calixto[! Great Hurricane of the Antilles.

The Great Hurricane of 1780, also known as Huracán San Calixto, the Great Hurricane of the Antilles, and the 1780 Disaster,

is probably the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. Between 20,000 and 22,000 people died when the storm passed through the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean starting on October 10 and ending on October 16

I don't know what to think about people who constantly insist on wearing tin foil and claim that their head is getting hot.

You people have been standing in the sun way too much. You take, self admittedly, flawed data and corrupted reviews and build house of card models. When the wind blows... you scream "see there, we can't even predict it's so bad.".

Give me a break. This "storm of the century" wasn't even a hurricane when it hit. You would think that the north east has never had a Nor'easter before. Lol... Get your head out of the Sandy.

This is like a religion... where people have absolutely no clue about weather... other than trying to decide what to wear to church go and pay your ties and pray that the storm doesn't come get you.

Wake me when the climate isn't changing and chicken little comes home to roost. And.. Btw.. can you tone it down a little... Your hysteria is scaring animals and small children.

If I were you... I wouldn't leave home. It's dangerous out there... something might fall out of the sky and hit you on the head.

@INTJ...... Yeah. I hope they catch the arsonist that started all those volcanoes and made all that lighting that starts forest fires. Just shows to go you... You just can't let humans play with matches.

Science has a very long history of being wrong. In fact almost everything they all used to agree was true was found to be wrong.

Climate change has one glaring problem. It's always changing. So is the climate on every other planet in the solar system most likely due to that big fat burning ball in the middle of the solar system.

In the end if man is warming the planet then so be it. Better a warmer planet than a cooler planet.

The answer is simple. The Sun has cycles (sun spots activity every 7 years). The Sun puts off more heat some years and less heat other years. The solar winds, planetary alinement, jet streams, high/low pressure systems. the Moon, etc. These all play a major role in climate change. Mankind - minimal changes.

When the Liberals cried out about Global Warming -- one half of the Earth was cooling. So, "Climate Change" was the new code word. If the planet Earth's heat goes up or down -- CLIMATE CHANGE!!!

The United States in the 1980's sent its first satilite to monitor the Sun. We only have 30 years of data doesn't equal the 4.5 Billion years the Sun been around. Hotter / cooler cycles. Al Gore is making MAJOR money of this scam.